A Gritty Pearl...

Yastreblyansky (The Rectification of Names) gets sarcastic about David Brooks' attempt to reform education to "conservative" ends.  Someone had to do it.

But the good news is that there are more grits than just the narrow, joyless kind; sure, hard work is unpleasant, grinding, arduous. But you'll get a better score if you put some moral purpose into it!

[...]

I want hyphens in "hard-working" if you're going to put them in "risk-taking". But I digress. Brooks's solution to the serious issue of the GPA system, "one of the more destructive elements in American education", is that it's all up to the kids: they just need to have some moral purpose, be hopeful, and go for the high-grade longing, because that cheap longing isn't going to get you anywhere, frankly.

(...is Michael, LL.D.]